August 2019 brought Emissary of the Daleks to the main range. Andrew Smith wrote this Sixth Doctor and Peri tale, and as the title makes clear there are Daleks. A tiny part of me wondered why it wasn’t called Representative of the Daleks to fit with the ‘R’ them for Dalek stories. Most of me wanted to get on and listen to the story 😉

Emissary of the Daleks

In many ways this is a straightforward story of a Dalek occupied world with slave miners and a human elite acting on behalf of the evil tinpot tyrants. There is resistance, desperate odds and even the Dalek Emperor. Of course there’s more to it than that.

There’s a major thread considering family bonds, ethically difficult decisions and doing the right thing. This gives the Doctor and Peri to connect with both ends of a family and it’s one of many ways Peri gets to be independent and add to the interest.

It’s also necessary to consider the Daleks themselves. One of the strengths of this story is the way Andrew has captured the style of Daleks as they were before modern Doctor Who wanted to add subtlety. Instead these are seriously old-school, very black and white in outlook and entirely ruthless.

There is a mystery and a twist but I felt these were predictable – perhaps I’ve listened to too many of these stories and thought too often about how to write them myself!

Emissary of the Daleks is a solid listen and a good outing for Sixie and Peri. Most enjoyable!